Ep 92 – Joseph's Myth Plus Justin Clark - Naked Mormonism Podcast

On this episode, we cover the evolution of the first vision accounts spurred by an 1841 interview with Joseph's brother, Reverend William Smith. From the 1829 revelation included as D&C 20 today, to the mid-1830s, to the John Whitmer history in 1838, to the History of the Church printed in the Times & Season in 1842, Joseph story looks less like an actual occurrence and more like a the coming-of-age story to a mythological figure. Was it God and Jesus who appeared, was it the angel Nephi, did the Sacred Grove even happen? These questions and more pose serious challenges to the claims of divine provenance of the young prophet. After that we have on Justin Clark from the Reason Revolution podcast to talk about the rise of the freethought movement in 19th and 20th-century America.

Links:

1832 First Vision Account http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-summer-1832/1#full-transcript

1835/6 First Vision Account http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/24

1841/2 First Vision Account http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-june-1839-circa-1841-draft-2/2

Several Remarkable Visions Orson Pratt http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-orson-pratt-an-interesting-account-of-several-remarkable-visions-1840/3#full-transcript

MormonThink First Vision Essay http://www.mormonthink.com/firstvisionweb.htm

MormonThink Nephi or Moroni Essay http://www.mormonthink.com/nephiweb.htm

LDS First Vision Essay https://www.lds.org/topics/first-vision-accounts?lang=eng

John Whitmer History Introduction http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/john-whitmer-history-1831-circa-1847/1#historical-intro

1841 William Smith Interview p.410 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015004820760;view=1up;seq=425

Interviews:

Reason Revolution with Justin Clark http://reasonrevolution.org/episode-36-the-interview-bryce-blankenagel/